The simplest Arabic words are based on a
root of three consonants.Words with related meanings are
formed by adding vowels and/or other consonants to the root.There
are certain "shapes" to these words that makes words
easier to recognize.

These forms can be recognized as they are limited in
number and more or less regular, but the system is not predictable
enough to allow for the coining of new words or reliably inducing
the meaning of one you haven't seen before.

Non-vocalised texts - Textes Non-vocalisés

One of the difficulties in learning
Arabic is that the short vowels are usually not written except in
texts written for children or in dictionaries.

Txts
wtht vwls cn b xtrml chllngng.

L
LCTR D'N TXT SNS VYLLS N'ST PS TJRS FCL!

Chances are you were able to figure out
what this vowel-less sentence meant in English because a native
speaker can easily fill in the gaps. Anyone who speaks
English well knows which words are possible and which are not and
is also able to deduce the words in their context.Someone who
is learning English might not be able to understand so well.

The Future – Le Futur

The future tense is formed by adding
the word سوف
saufa or the prefix س
before the verb in the present.

The Past Perfect – Le Plus-que-parfait

The past perfect tense is formed by
adding the particle قد
before the the كان
kaana plus the verb in the past.

The Imperfect - L'imparfait

The imperfect is formed by adding كان
kaana before the verb in the past.

The Future perfect

The future perfect is formed by the
verb كان
kaana plus the word قد
qad plus the verb i the past.

DERIVED FORMS - FORMES DERIVEES

Most verbs have 10 derived forms that add to the
3-letter root to alter meaning. The derived forms can become
nouns or other parts of speech.

All the derived forms have
predictable vowels if you learn the patterns.Some grammars
recommend learning all the forms in all of their configurations by
heart, and that certainly is desirable, but the chart of all the
forms looks frightenting with more than eighty forms and it
woud be nearly unrealistic to even try to learn them all
at once.After all, some hardly ever are used and the most common
ones are appear often.Most roots only ever appear in a handful of
the many theoretical forms.

The Basic form (I) – La Forme de Base (I)

I) The basic form
is usually فعلfa?ala or 1a2a3a or _a_a_a

Sometimes it can be
diffierent though.شرب(to drink) is shariba (1a2i3a _a_i_

The first form is the only one where you need to know the
vowels. This includes the present tense, but it's only the second
vowel that can change.

For example, when forming the present tense from the past radical,
you need to know if the second vowel is an 'a', an 'i' or a
'u'.Usually Arabic dictionaris list the vowel after the radical
so you know how to form the present.
If you see be seated - جلس(i) - this means that 'he is seated would
be يجلس
- yajlis كتب(u) kataba - (he wrote) here the present tense
is يكتبyaktub (he writes, he is writing)

The Second form (II) and The Fifth Form (V)

II) Doubling the middle consonant فعّل
fa??ala or 1a22a3a or -a--a-a

Doubling of the middle consonant either intensifies the meaning of
makes it an action caused by someone else. (to cause to do, to make
to do)

Irregular Plurals - Les Pluriels Irréguliers

Irregular plurals take some getting used to as they can look quite
differnt from the singular as the changes are internal, not just i
a suffix at the end of the word.There are a limited number of
patterns for these irregular plurals, so it is'nt as hard as it
seems at firstHere are some examples:

The Accusative - منصوب-
manSuub - L'Accusatif

However
the accusative is also require in a number of other situations in
Arabic.

1) After كان
(to be), ليس
(is not) or any one of a group of verbs denoting
a state of being or becoming(known in Arabic as Kana and her
sisters)2) after the introductory word إن
inna3) An adjective that forms the
suprlative (more interesting) using أكثر
akthar takes the accusative as does an
adjective in the expression 'less than' أقل
من

The Genetive - مجرور
- majruur - Le Génétif

As is the case with most Western grammatical terms used to
describe Arabic, this case only bears a distant similarity with the
term 'genetive'.

The Genetive takes -i or -in

This case
is used after a preposition

THE VERBAL NOUN (also known as the masdar) – المصدر
al-maSdar

This form of verbs sometimes coresponds
to a common noun in English or French, but sometimes replaces a
construction that normally would be expressed by a verb.

There are a number of ways to form the
verbal noun:

if the root is 123

-1a23

From the root طبخ
Tabakha you get طبخ
Tabkh (note the identical spelling!)